Sneaky Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Pickups, Buys: Week 18 - Hot Pitchers To Sustain Success?

July 28, 2026

Joey looks at three sneaky fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups for starting pitchers in Week 18 (2026) on hot streaks, and sees if they can sustain their success.

Welcome, RotoBallers, to another edition of our Sneaky Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Column for Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season. Every week of the fantasy baseball season, we look at three pitchers who are firing on all cylinders and determine whether these pitchers can sustain their recent success.

This week's edition will dive into three pitchers who are simply cooking on the mound. We'll look at one pitcher rostered in over 50% of Yahoo! leagues, one pitcher rostered in just under 40% of leagues, and another pitcher rostered in under 20%. All three of these pitchers have thrown the ball well recently and could be strong fantasy options moving forward.

Let's dive into three pitchers and determine what to do with them in Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season.

Cade Cavalli, Washington Nationals

56% Rostered (Yahoo)

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli has shown some nice things on the mound this season. He has a 3.58 ERA, 1.292 WHIP, and 127 strikeouts across 110 2/3 innings pitched. Cavalli has surely broken out in his first full season in the big leagues and has proven to be a top fantasy starting pitcher. The 27-year-old is a top-50 pitcher in current Fantrax leagues.

While Cavalli has thrown the ball well for most of the year, he is really in a groove right now. The Nationals right-hander has a 2.43 ERA and a 34.8% strikeout rate over his last six starts dating back to June 25. Some of his best starts during this stretch include throwing seven innings of one-run ball with 13 strikeouts against the Red Sox on June 30 and six innings of two-run ball with nine strikeouts against the Athletics on July 17.

Cavalli was also dominant in his most recent start against the Rockies at Coors Field. He threw six shutout innings with eight strikeouts in that outing while topping out at 99 mph on his four-seam fastball. The 27-year-old also generated 10 swings and misses, which included inducing four whiffs on his fastball, four whiffs on his knuckle curve, and two whiffs on his sweeper.

Cade Cavalli, 99mph Paint. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/Oq61ZuAuWg

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 22, 2026

There's no doubt that Cavalli is on a nice run on the mound right now. His uptick in strikeouts is a large reason for his recent success. After having a 23.5% strikeout rate in his first 16 starts, that number has risen to 34.8% in his last six starts. He has struck out at least seven batters in four of his past six outings, which included a masterful 13-strikeout, 25-whiff performance last month.

There hasn't been a massive shift in Cavalli's arsenal over the last few weeks, but the Nationals have obviously played around with his pitch mix. He didn't throw his cutter at all in the month of April, only threw it 0.2% of the time in May, and 5% of the time in June. In July, though, his cutter usage is up to 14.4%. That cutter is giving him another fastball-type pitch to go after both lefties and righties.

That increased cutter usage is leading Cavalli to lean on his knuckle-curve a bit less. He threw his knuckle-curve 37.9% of the time in May, then it dropped to 25.2% in June, and now sits at 18.3% in July. Despite throwing his knuckle-curve almost 20% less than in May, that remains his go-to offspeed pitch in two-strike counts. That pitch has a 40% whiff rate and a 38.5% putaway rate in the month of July.

Cavalli has shown enough this season to make him a viable fantasy option down the stretch. His strikeout numbers will eventually regress a bit since he has a league-average whiff rate (25.2%), but there's a lot to love about his game moving forward. The velocity on all of his pitches has also been up in his last few starts.

Brandon Young, Baltimore Orioles

37% Rostered (Yahoo)

It's a bit shocking that Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Brandon Young is not rostered in more Yahoo! leagues in Week 18 of the fantasy baseball season. Young has been extremely consistent on the mound since the Orioles called him up in early April. The 27-year-old has a 3.13 ERA and 80 strikeouts across 97 2/3 innings pitched and has given up three runs or fewer in 15 of his 17 starts.

While Young has been really consistent this season, he has been dominant on the mound recently. The Orioles right-hander has a 2.79 ERA in his last eight starts. His best outings during this stretch include throwing seven shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Mariners on June 10, five innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers on June 21, and seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts against the Astros on July 19.

In his most recent outing, Young continued to throw the ball well. He threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was in full control in that outing. He induced 11 whiffs and had another 12 called strikes before departing with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

Brandon Young winner by KO. 🥊 pic.twitter.com/se95dhwBmk

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 26, 2026

What's been most impressive about Young as of late has been his increased strikeout rate. He has a 24% strikeout rate over his last six starts, up from his 19.3% strikeout rate for the season. The young pitcher has struck out at least five batters in each of his past six outings, which included striking out a season-high eight batters in a start against the Nationals on June 27.

Like Cavalli, there really isn't a noticeable difference in Young's arsenal over the last few weeks. The 27-year-old is still leaning on his fastball the most, and is throwing his splitter the second-most. His slider, sinker, and curveball then all come in behind those two as solid pitches he throws between 11% and 17% of the time.

The biggest change for Young has been leaning a bit less on his splitter and more on his sinker and slider in the month of July. It isn't a huge difference, but he's throwing his splitter 5.9% less this month at 17.3%, and his sinker (16.8%) and slider (16.8%) usage is up a couple of percentage points. There could be a reason for that since opposing hitters are batting .421 against his splitter across four July starts.

If you are looking for a pitcher to lower your ERA, Young is a nice pickup in some 12+ team leagues. However, he's unlikely to continue this sub-3.00 ERA stretch that he is currently on. Having an expected ERA of 4.10, a .254 expected batting average against, a 23.3% whiff rate, a 19.3% strikeout rate, and a 41.8% hard-hit rate spells potential trouble for Young moving forward.

Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks

18% Rostered (Yahoo)

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt started the year in the team's rotation. But he was eventually moved to the bullpen when Merrill Kelly was activated from the 15-day injured list in mid-April. After allowing 12 runs (11 earned runs) with six walks and 11 strikeouts in his first three starts, he was the obvious choice to lose his spot in Arizona's rotation.

Pfaadt then spent multiple weeks in the Diamondbacks bullpen as a long reliever. However, he didn't really post solid numbers in this role. The 27-year-old had a 5.91 ERA, an 11.2% walk rate, and a 20.4% strikeout rate across 21 1/3 innings from April 19 to June 3 before he was optioned to Triple-A Reno on June 4 to get back on track.

Spending close to four weeks with the Reno Aces seems to have helped Pfaadt tremendously. He had a 1.80 ERA and a 0.800 WHIP in his first three starts at Triple-A and was eventually recalled to the big league roster in late June to fill an open rotation spot due to the injuries of Michael Soroka and Ryne Nelson. Pfaadt has now been one of Arizona's most consistent pitchers over the last month.

Since being recalled on June 30, the Diamondbacks right-hander has a 2.33 ERA, 3.00 FIP, and a 2.8% walk rate in his last five starts. He has given up two runs or fewer in each of those five outings and looks like a completely different pitcher on the mound from earlier in the year. Pfaadt is also coming off his best start of the season, throwing six innings of two-run ball against the Cardinals.

It's clear that the time down in Triple-A was much-needed for Pfaadt to get his confidence back. He has posted strong numbers on the mound since returning, and the Diamondbacks have tweaked his pitch mix just a bit.

Back in April, the young right-hander threw all five of his pitches (sinker, curveball, four-seam fastball, changeup, and cutter) between 11% and 23% of the time. His curveball led the way at 22.1%, and his sinker was his most-used fastball-type pitch at 21.9%. But his most-used fastball-type pitch and most-used offspeed-type pitch are no longer those two pitches in July.

Pfaadt is leaning on his four-seam fastball more, his changeup more, and his curveball less in the month of July. He's throwing his four-seam fastball 26% of the time (up 9.8% from April), his changeup 16.4% of the time (up 5.4% from April), and his curveball 13% of the time (down 9.1% from April). Even his sinker usage (18.3%) is slightly down in July compared to April (down 3.6%).

While a slight adjustment to his arsenal has helped him reach a new level on the mound, there are some concerns about Pfaadt that make him a questionable fantasy option moving forward. He has just a 12.8% strikeout rate over his last five starts, his season whiff rate sits at only 20.6%, and his barrel rate (9.5%) ranks in the bottom 25% of the league.

Still, it might not be a bad idea to add him in some 12+ team leagues. He's throwing strikes, attacking the zone, and has done a fantastic job keeping the ball in the park since returning to the team. Just don't expect many strikeouts from him because that's not a part of his game.

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